


Hey, Baby Girl

by Victorian_Asylum



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-06-17
Updated: 2014-06-17
Packaged: 2018-02-05 00:14:09
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 516
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1798489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Victorian_Asylum/pseuds/Victorian_Asylum
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"She's only ever cradled guns and injured comrades, not fragile beings that metaphorically share her blood. Her hands were too big, skin too scarred, fingers too calloused to ever hold such a tiny, beautiful thing." A drabble about Shepard's first time holding her child.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hey, Baby Girl

**Author's Note:**

> Just a happy drabble.

“Do you want to hold her?”

It was a simple question, but it was one every parent waited their entire lives for. Shepard swallowed thickly and shifted beside the hospital bed, rubbing nervously over her forearm. She was freezing up on the day of her child's birth, just like she feared she would. It wasn't as if she didn't want to interact with the baby. It's been months in the making. But she's only ever cradled guns and injured comrades, not fragile beings that metaphorically share her blood. Her hands were too big, skin too scarred, fingers too calloused to ever hold such a tiny, beautiful thing. Shepard secretly feared hurting her child, or that she would be found lacking as a parent. Saving the galaxy? Sure. Guiding a child through life? It was likely the only thing that could shake the seemingly unflappable commander.

“Shepard?” Liara asked again, looking up at the soldier, who jumped slightly at the sound. She smiled lightly. “Do you want to hold her?” She repeated, softer this time. 

“I- I don't know, Liara, I mean-”

“Don't worry,” she soothed. 

Shepard worried her lower lip, eyes flickering to the baby, then Liara and back again. She rubbed at her arm one more time, before releasing a quick breath and extending her arms. She took the child into her arms carefully, as if she was glass freshly glued together. Shepard was tense, staring down at the fragile child in her hands, feeling every bit too big to be holding such a tiny being. She shifted slightly, the baby yawning slightly, a wide-mouthed toothless motion that made Shepard's heart swell. This was her child. Slowly, Shepard began to relax. She brought one arm up, reaching out to touch the baby's tiny hand. Diminutive finger scurled halfheartedly around one of her fingers, and Shepard could feel herself starting to tear up.

“Shepard?” Liara called, voice light. “Are you crying?”

Shepard sniffed, blinking away the tears. “No. There's dust in my eye. All the dust in this room can't be good for our child.”

Liara laughed at that, and after a moment, Shepard joined in. It was completely absurd, this entire situation. Sure, she'd thought of it before, but she never imagined it could ever be a reality. She wanted to laugh, cry and dance in joy all at once. She looked at the child in her arms as her laughter subsided. Here, in her very arms, arms that have held up whole solar systems, was a small piece of the future, a set of infinite possibilities and lives for her to safeguard. This was a being who would rise from the ashes war and rebuild, one in a generation of architects with a future the size of the universe itself.

And as a father, she was responsible for guiding this life as best she could in her brief life.

“Shepard?” Liara asked. Shepard wondered if her expression had changed. “Is everything all right?”

Shepard smiled for what felt like the first time in a thousand years, stretching muscles she'd forgotten she had. “Everything's perfect.”


End file.
